Historic Marylebone pub under threat from developers

By Hannah Neary, Local Democracy Reporter

An historic 200-year-old London pub could be bulldozed to make way for a new pub and budget hotel.

Georgian pub The Chapel in Marylebone is in a dilapidated state and on a site dominated by an apartment block next door.

It was built in the early 1800s on the corner of Chapel Street and Old Marylebone Road and is now in a state of disrepair with cracks in the walls.

A planning report says: “The central location and high level of connectivity makes 48 Chapel Street the perfect location for a small budget hotel.”

The pub is currently struggling financially, largely due to ongoing maintenance costs, according to a report by Savills.

It says: “Due to the structural condition of the building, it is highly likely that the property would have to be re-built.

“The proposals are well designed and will deliver a high-quality and exciting piece of architecture on this prominent corner site.”

The pub is not a listed building but there are two Grade II listed telephone boxes nearby.

If the plans are approved, they would be ripped out and moved further along Chapel St to give pedestrians more space.

The new pub is planned for the ground and basement levels with a 44-bed hotel on the ground, basement and six upper levels.

As part of the plans, a nearby tree that was previously removed will be replaced with a tulip tree up to nine metres tall.

The new build would be made from black granite, bronze and stone.

The report says: “It will provide a distinctive structure, making a positive contribution to local character as well as accommodating retail, pub and hotel uses, ensuring that the needs of the surrounding residential and worker community are met as well as offering good quality boutique hotel accommodation in a very accessible location.

“The nature of pubs and how they are used is changing.

“Such institutions should only be retained where they are valued by the local community and make a genuine contribution to the character and function of an area.

“The existing building is a now a physically incongruous and structurally unstable remnant of the past.

“It leaves an unsightly gap in this part of the urban landscape and is a site where considerable improvement could be made.”

Westminster City Council will decide if the pub can be demolished and replaced by the hotel at a meeting on Tuesday (February 08).

 

Pictured: The Chapel Pub